Lancet reports first person-person transmission of coronavirus in the USA
Person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 might be most likely to occur through unprotected, prolonged exposure to an individual with symptomatic COVID-19, reports the Lancet.;
USA: In January 2020, a novel virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the causative agent for a cluster of pneumonia cases initially detected in Wuhan City, Hubei province, China. As of February 29, 2020, more than 85,000 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported from China and 53 other countries with 2,924 deaths. Phylogenetic data implicate a zoonotic origin, and the rapid spread suggests ongoing person-to-person transmission.
New research published in The Lancet has mentioned that on Jan 23, 2020, Illinois, USA, reported the state's first laboratory-confirmed case (index case) of COVID-19 in a traveler who returned from Wuhan in mid-January, 2020. Subsequently, the first evidence of secondary transmission in the USA was reported on Jan 30, when the husband of the index patient, who had not traveled outside the USA, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Public health authorities did an intensive epidemiological investigation of the two confirmed cases.
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